Throughout history, very few Irish surnames have exclusively maintained their original forms. Before being translated into English, Toal appeared as O Tuathail, which is derived from "tuathal," which means "people mighty."

Early Origins of the Toal family

The surname Toal was first found in County Kildare (Irish:Cill Dara), ancient homeland of the Kildare based Uí Dúnlainge (Kings of Leinster), located in the Province of Leinster, seated at O'Toole's Castle, where they were descended from Tuathal, King of Leinster who died in 950 A.D.

Early History of the Toal family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Toal research.Another 351 words (25 lines of text) covering the years 1327, 1590, 1128, 1180, 1225, 1327, 1670 and 1722 are included under the topic Early Toal History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Toal Spelling Variations

A name was often recorded during the Middle Ages under several different spelling variations during the life of its bearer because literacy was rare there was no real push to clearly define any of the languages found in the British Isles at that time. Variations found of the name Toal include Toole, Tool, O'Toole, O'Tool, Tooley, Toile and many more.

Early Notables of the Toal family (pre 1700)

Prominent amongst the family at this time was St. Laurence O'Toole; Lorcán Ua Tuathail, also known as St Laurence O'Toole, (1128-1180), Archbishop of Dublin, canonized in 1225 by Pope Honorius III; and Adam Dubh Ó Tuathail, died... Another 37 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Toal Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Toal family to the New World and Oceana

In the 19th century, thousands of Irish left their English-occupied homeland for North America. Like most new world settlers, the Irish initially settled on the eastern shores of the continent but began to move westward with the promise of owning land. The height of this Irish migration came during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. With apparently nothing to lose, Irish people left on ships bound for North America and Australia. Unfortunately a great many of these passengers lost their lives - the only thing many had left - to disease, starvation, and accidents during the long and dangerous journey. Those who did safely arrive in "the land of opportunities" were often used for the hard labor of building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. The Irish were critical to the quick development of the infrastructure of the United States and Canada. Passenger and immigration lists indicate that members of the Toal family came to North America quite early:

Toal Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

John Toal, aged 21, who arrived in New York in 1854 [1]CITATION[CLOSE]Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)

Contemporary Notables of the name Toal (post 1700)

Jean Hoefer Toal (b. 1943), American jurist, the first woman and the first Roman Catholic to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Carolina

Brian P. Toal (b. 1985), American football linebacker from Wyckoff, New Jersey

See Also

Citations

^ Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)

^ The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, February 3) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html